The big TV quiz of 2023
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Drama kings (and queens)
In which hit 2023 series were these the protagonists?
1. A building contractor involved in a road rage incident
2. A casino cocktail waitress on the run
3. A corporate deal negotiator travelling from Dubai to London
4. Across all six seasons of The Crown, how many actresses played Elizabeth?
Which BBC dramas were set in and around the following establishments?
5. Carlingford Women’s Prison
6. Restaurant Point North
7. Blackthorn Police Station, Belfast
8. Which Oscar-winner made a brief unannounced cameo as a chef named Terry in The Bear?
Can you identify these 2023 dramas from their casts?
9. Timothy Spall, Sheila Hancock, Anne Reid
10. Hugh Bonneville, Dominic Cooper, Jack Lowden
11. Bella Ramsey, John Hannah, Nick Offerman
12. What was the name of the organised crime lord and aspiring local politician brought down at the end of Happy Valley?
These three acclaimed books were adapted into TV dramas this year. Can you name them?
13. A 2019 novel about a Manhattan couple undergoing a bitter divorce
14. A 2022 novel about a scientist-turned-feminist cookery show host
15. A 2017 novel about 18th-century Yorkshire coin counterfeiters
Funny Business
16. Who did Dr Alan “Corny” Cornwall welcome back to Boston after 19 years off our screens?
17. In acclaimed Australian romcom Colin From Accounts, what’s the embarrassing surname of microbrewery-owning male lead Gordon (played by co-creator Patrick Brammall)?
18. Who hit headlines in August for a 71-second cameo appearance, making a phone call from London to New York in the back of a cab?
19. The BBC’s hit haunted house comedy Ghosts comes to an end this Christmas. Can you name five of the eight main ghosts?
20. Which Oscar-winning actress joined the third series of Only Murders in the Building as Martin Short’s love interest?
Reality frights
21. What did actors Amanda Abbington and Nigel Harman have in common this year?
Which primetime TV contests were won by these people in 2023?
22. Sam Robert De Courcy Thompson, a property developer’s son
23. Jordan Sangha, a lawyer from Scunthorpe
24. A Norwegian wearing a high-vis vest
25. Former health secretary Matt Hancock reached the final of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins this autumn, only to be beaten by which Pop Idol runner-up?
Matters of fact
26. What was the title of this summer’s critically acclaimed BBC Two documentary series about The Troubles?
27. Who was kidnapped, shot and waterboarded during a Channel 4 travelogue in July?
28. What did blind, neurodivergent teenager Lucy do at Leeds railway station which moved viewers to tears in February?
29. September’s Dispatches documentary In Plain Sight saw multiple women publicly accuse who of sexual assault?
30. Four-part Netflix documentary Beckham was directed by Fisher Stevens, who is also an actor in which acclaimed drama that reached its conclusion this year?
Scandals and slip-ups
31. How did BBC newsreader Maryam Moshiri cause a stir during a live bulletin in early December?
32. Who spent his debut episode trouserless and talking to himself in December?
33. Which food expert presented summer’s Channel 4 spoof documentary The British Miracle Meat, advocating eating human flesh during the cost of living crisis?
34. Why was Match Of The Day shortened and near-silent in March?
35. Which two long-running BBC shows hosted by Paddy McGuinness were cancelled this autumn?
They said...what?
36. “Right, deep breath. Firstly, are you OK?” Who said this in June, on what TV show and why?
37. “So, Nicky, tell us about your beaver.” Who said this in September?
38. In February, who reconciled with whom by apologising for “singeing one of your crochet blankets”?
39. Who told whom in April “I love you but you are not serious people”?
40. Who said to whom in a 2023 drama: “Thank you for how you were in the hospital. So raw, broken and handsome.”
Dearly Departed
41. Who died in March and nine months later was posthumously named person of the year by animal rights organisation Peta?
42. “Oh boy, this one has cut deep.” So began Jennifer Aniston’s Instagram tribute to whom?
43. Fans of which show were saddened by October’s news that a rottweiler called Dave had died?
44. “A cultured and erudite man,” wrote King Charles. “Life won’t be the same without him.” At whose state memorial service was this tribute read aloud?
45. Who made a posthumous cameo in the second of Doctor Who’s recent 60th anniversary specials?
Screen swansongs
Can you name these memorable supporting characters from TV shows which aired their final episodes this year?
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
Answers:
Drama kings (and queens)
1. Beef / 2. Poker Face / 3. Hijack / 4. Five - Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton, Verity Russell and Viola Prettejohn / 5. Time / 6. Boiling Point / 7. Blue Lights / 8. Olivia Colman / 9. The Sixth Commandment / 10. The Gold / 11. The Last Of Us / 12. Darius Knezevic (and his brother Zeljko) / 13. Fleishman Is in Trouble / 14. Lessons In Chemistry / 15. The Gallows Pole
Funny business
16. Dr Frasier Crane in the Frasier revival / 17. Crappe / 18. Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones in And Just Like That / 19. Choose any five from Kitty, Thomas, Julian, Pat, Fanny, Robin, Humphrey and The Captain / 20. Meryl Streep
Reality frights
21. They both dropped out of Strictly Come Dancing / 22. I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! / 23. Big Brother / 24. Britain’s Got Talent, won by comedian Viggo Venn / 25. Gareth Gates
Matters of fact
26. Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland / 27. Guy Martin in Our Guy In Colombia / 28. Played Chopin’s Nocturne in B-flat minor on Channel 4’s The Piano / 29. Russell Brand / 30. He plays Hugo Baker in Succession.
Scandals and slip-ups
31. She was caught giving the middle finger to the camera / 32. Ncuti Gatwa, the new star of Doctor Who, after David Tennant “bi-regenerated” / 33. Gregg Wallace / 34. Gary Lineker’s colleagues boycotted the show in solidarity after his suspension for breaching impartiality guidelines / 35. Top Gear and A Question Of Sport
They said… what?
36. Holly Willoughby on This Morning after co-host Phillip Schofield’s departure / 37. Prue Leith on the Great British Bake Off about an animal cake showstopper / 38. Happy Valley’s Sgt Catherine Cawood to her sister Clare / 39. Succession’s Logan Roy to his children / 40. Diana’s ghost to Charles in The Crown
Dearly departed
41. Paul O’Grady / 42. Her Friends co-star Matthew Perry / 43. Gogglebox / 44. Australian comedian Barry Humphries’ / 45. Bernard Cribbins
Screen swansongs
46. DCI Fred Thursday from Endeavour, played by Roger Allam / 47. Jaq from Top Boy, played by Jasmine Jobson / 48. Gene Cousineau from Barry, played by Henry Winkler / 49. Susie Myerson from The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, played by Alex Borstein / 50. Roy Kent from Ted Lasso, played by Brett Goldstein
How did you score?
If you scored fewer than 12 points…Either you don’t watch much TV or you’re terrible at quizzes. We’ll politely let you decide which.
If you scored 12 to 25 points…Respectable but with room for improvement. Follow The Telegraph’s TV recommendations more closely.
If you scored 26 to 39 points…Strong but not scarily so. Your performance suggests you have a good TV/life balance. Well done.
If you scored 40 points or more…Congratulations, you watch lots of TV and know your stuff.
